Why did Hippocrates say the following

alansmithdc

New member
Dear Astrologers:
I am a health care provider and ran into the following quote from Hippocrates, father of modern medicine.

"A physician without a knowledge of Astrology has no right to call himself a physician."

Hippocrates

What is the relationship between Astrology, health and health care providers?

Alan Smith D.C.
 

Ghost00

Banned
As above, so below. Heaven above, heaven below. Stars above, stars below. What happens above under will show. Happy is he who this riddle reatheth 👵
 
Various ailments have various causes. You may suffer from a snakebite, an infection, poor sleep or tripping and falling. Our activites are timed by the rising and setting of the sun (or if we are nocturnal of the sun and moon), and the activities of our organs were thought to be timed and regulated by the rising and setting of planets. Hippocrates may have thought that a general practitioner needs to have general knowledge, at least of his own domain. After all, a single person may have ailments of various kinds.
 

waybread

Well-known member
There is an entire sub-field of medical astrology.

http://www.greekmedicine.net/medical_astrology/Introduction.html

It has several Hellenistic bases, one of which was Aristotle's 4 qualities: hot, dry, cold, moist. Each of these relates to a temperament type (phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, melancholic) which relates to one of the 4 Aristotelian elements (in order, water, fire, air, earth.) Water is cold and wet, fire is hot and dry, air is hot and moist, earth is cold and dry.) Each temperament type related to a bodily fluid: phlegm, blood, black bile, yellow bile.)

The idea was that imbalances in the humors were likely to cause disease. Imbalances might be prevented or corrected by diet, but sometimes more intervention was used, like the old practice of bloodletting.

Each planet possessed the same qualities of temperature and moisture: Mars is hot and dry, the moon is cool and moist, for example. Each astrological sign can be classified according to its element. (Aries is fire, Taurus is earth, and so on.)

The 6th house is the traditional house of illness. Then the human body was divided into 12 anatomical parts, corresponding to signs and houses. In the "anatomical man" Aries rules the head, Taurus rules the neck and shoulders, on down to Pisces ruling the feet.

Leo rules the spine (you're a chiropractor?)

Different planetary combinations could lead to various illnesses. For example, an afflicted planet in Aries or the first house might make the person prone to headaches or eyesight problems.

There were also special techniques for predicting length of life.

There's a lot more there, although I'm not sure how much medical astrology influenced. Aristotle.
 

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Opal

Premium Member
Astrology and astronomy were viewed together. Astronomy was to tell you where the planets were, and astrology to direct you what to do with it.

All learned people started with astrology/astronomy as part of your basic education, afterwards you were equipped to further your education.

Instead of treating everyone as if everyone was the same they considered your natal chart, and the transits affecting you. If you want to treat a person, it helps to know what makes them tick.
 

waybread

Well-known member
By the Middle Ages, astrology was taught as a regular subject in European universities. It was seen as an adjunct to medicine. Knowing the patient's horoscope and transiting planets in relation to it could point to the nature of the disease and its cure.

There is also something called a decumbiture chart, timing the moment when the patient took to his bed. (Today we might say, when the patient first experienced serious symptoms.) This type of event chart should also point to the nature of the illness.

Medicinal herbs are also related to the different planets but I'm not sure what was practiced by way of herbalism in ancient Greece.

The ancient Egyptians were known as skilled physicians. Their practices apparently had something to do with their cultural astronomy, but I believe their system was secret and has been lost.
 
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